Abstract
It is a well known fact that Heterodera schachtii in the brown cyst stage can survive in soil for several years in the absence of host plants. Fuchs found living contents in five-year old cysts of the beet strain of this nematode, while eight-year old cysts of the potato strain have been found by the writer still to be infective to the host plant. Thus, the starving out of this parasite by withholding susceptible crops would appear to be impracticable.